The Mentalist-one shot
by mimi3005
Summary: This story is a short one shot. It would fit between episode 8 and 9 of Season 5. Please be indulgent, English is not my mother tongue. I really hope you'll enjoy it.


Hi,

This story is a one shot and could fit between episodes 8 and 9 of Season 5.

It's rated K. Please be indulgent, English is not my mother tongue.

Jane was fast asleep on his bed in the attic when Lisbon entered the room. His arms were tightened around his chest and his list of Red John suspects was placed by his side, indicating he'd spent yet another night working on it.

She crouched down by his side, reluctant to wake him up "Jane wake up, we're up"  
He stirred a little and covered his eyes with his right hand "mmmm already?"  
"yes we're on a case, Rigsby and Cho have already left"  
He yawned and sat down, rubbing the fatigue off his face "ok"

"You haven't slept a wink again, have you?" she asks glancing at his notebook.

"mmm not much" and smiled "you haven't slept much either, have you Lisbon?"

"right come on let's go, we're running late!" was the only answer she could come up with.

*****************  
The dead body of Emma Thompson, 33, was found on a motel's bathroom floor in Davis, a little town not far from Sacramento. The local policeman greeted Jane and Lisbon on the crime scene.  
"Hi I'm agent Lisbon and here is my colleague, Patrick Jane, he's a consultant with the CBI"  
"hi" They shook hands and Jane started examining the body.

"ah! I have heard about you and your antics" the agent joked saracstically, to which Jane put a fake smile on "well I'll pretend I haven't just heard you and focus on the victim here, shall I?"

The policeman's sarcastic smile faded "I have already talked to your men, apparently she committed suicide, look at the cuts on her wrists" he said munching on a chocolate bar with his mouth open. "besides, we found this note", he added before handing the note out to Lisbon, ignoring Jane "_I'm sorry I can't deal with this anymore"_  
They had a close look at it "I don't think it's a suicide" Jane said firmly, "it looks like it but it's not. That's what the killer wants us to believe"  
"and how would you know that Sherlock?"  
"I just do" Jane replied, ignoring the policeman's lame attempts to discredit him, looking carefully at everything around "he or she probably cut her wrists after she was dead, we'll know more after the autopsy. She was a cleaning lady here it seems... vacuum, cleaning products.." he said examining the room.  
"yes she was" Rigsby confirmed, "we found her work card, worked here for four years now" he pursued.

"but it seems she wasn't only here to clean this morning, look at her nails, perfectly done, her make-up, her lipstick, no ring.. mmm she was also here to meet her lover" Jane added  
"who found her body?" Lisbon asked her men  
"some man who rented the room, he got the key at the reception and found her dead body when he got in early this morning"  
"we have to question the motel's owner, the man who found her and also the receptionist" Lisbon said  
"we have, well at least the man who found her and the receptionist, she didn't see nor hear anything and has no idea where the owner is, as for the traveler, he's cleared"  
"alright Rigsby, Cho, you find the owner and canvass the area for clues and witnesses, I'll call Van Pelt and ask her to look for boyfriend, family and friends" Lisbon ordered

"right, I've done my duty for now I'm out of here, I haven't got the chance to get a hold of a cup of tea yet" Jane said stretching his arms like a cat and walking out of the door.

Lisbon called him out as he sat outside the local pub opposite the motel, enjoying the sunlight dancing on his face.  
"Jane, can we go back now? You can have tea at the office"  
"you're such in a hurry Lisbon, what's up? We don't have time for a cuppa here?" he asked observing the people sat at the bar.  
She sighed in defeat and sat down in front of him.  
"isn't it wonderful to just relax and enjoy the sun for a change. Do you know that 80% of humans lack vitamine D?" but she was not impressed "you finished? Seriously it's creepy in here"  
"what is it Lisbon?" he asked gazing into her eyes,  
"what do you mean?"  
He put his right hand above his eyes to look at her as the sun made him frown "either you got up on the wrong side of the bed or something's happened. I can see something's wrong, what is it?"  
"nothing why would you say that? I just don't want to idle about in here while we have work to do"  
"no it's not that, there's something else" his eyes were peircing through her which made her feel uncomfortable.  
She was caught off balance, how on earth did he suss that one out? She was trying so hard to conceal her feelings. "I'm fine Jane I have no idea what you're talking about, I'm being my usual self, meaning your boss, meaning contain you and make you work at least a little bit"  
Jane sipped at his tea "if you say so Lisbon.. I'll be a while here so if you want to go, I won't keep you, I'll join you back at the office later"  
"right don't be too long ok? I don't want the boss to be on my back again because of you" and off she went.

When he got back to the CBI in the early afternoon, Jane brewed himself a cup of Lapsang souchong tea and prepared coffee and a sandwich for his boss. He was adamant to find out why she'd been feeling low and therefore, was not so focused on the ongoing case.

He knocked on the door and placed the coffee and sandwich on her desk after she invited him in.

"oh thanks Jane and this is for?"  
"hug in a cup and ermm you know some food for thought" he smiled weakly then cleared his throat "for your investigation".

She looked at him befuddled "well, thank you but what is it for?"  
He shrugged his shoulders "just wanted to make sure you were ok, I'm sure you haven't eaten lunch yet"  
"I already said I was fine Jane"  
He paused for a while "let me think" and counted his fingers "a-you look sad, b-you haven't eaten anything for lunch, c-you've been staring into space all morning and d-you let me leave the crime scene without saying a word, so I've figured out something's going on"  
"I'll say it one last time, I'm fine. Thanks for your concern, now if you'll excuse me I've got work to do" she said calmly.  
"alright I'll leave you to it" he left her office and went to lie down on his couch.

An hour later, Van Pelt was on the phone when Lisbon came out of her office to talk to Jane "I've got news, Cho's just called me, they can't find Mr Henry, the motel's owner, he's nowhere to be found apparently, talk about being guilty"  
Jane was staring at the ceiling, still trying to figure out why Lisbon had been feeling so moody.

"well it's not him anyway" he said  
"what? How do you know? Did you make any breakthrough earlier?"  
"mmm not sure yet, I'm still thinking about it"  
"can you elaborate please?"

Van pelt hung up and interrupted their conversation "Boss we've got something, Emma was married, her husband's just heard the news. We also searched through Emma's phone and the last calls came from a man named Ethan Jumkins. He's got a criminal record, was charged with drug possession and other dodgy stuff, oh and the autopsy showed she had taken drugs, a very large dose"  
"oh so we've got a lead after all, I'll ask Cho to go for him, Jane what do you think?"  
"I think we need to pay her husband a little visit now" he said jumping off his couch "let's go"

The drive to Davis was about half an hour long. Lisbon didn't take her eyes off the road as she could feel Jane's questioning eyes on her.

"stop that Jane"

"stop what?"

"you know what I'm talking about"

He pursed his lips "do I?"

"you know fair well"

"so if I follow your logic, you think I have something in mind that I want to ask you and if you do believe that, then it means you really have something on your mind, so what is it Lisbon?"

She sighed "You're wrong, I just hate it when you analyze me, you make me believe you know something but you don't because there is nothing to know! I just had a bad night, I haven't been sleeping well for a while that's all"

"yes of course" he said ironically "very insulting that is, if you think you can lie to me, you've got another thing coming!"

"I'm not lying"

He rolled his eyes "of course not, you're blushing and you're grasping the steering wheel tightly as if your life depended on it, drop the act, it's just you and me"

"oh damn it Jane, let it go, please! Why do you always want to know everything? let it go!This is none of your business anyway!"

He crossed his arms against his chest as to protect himself from the offence she'd just caused him "fair enough, suit yourself but you know I'm here.. in case you would.." but decided against finishing his sentence.

She glanced at him sideways and remained silent for another fifteen mintues before she parked the car near the motel. They soon realised the victim and her husband lived above the bar they sat at in the morning.

Mr Thompson greeted them with puffy red eyes, grief had clearly taken its toll on him. After they all took a seat in the living room, he explained that his wife had left home early in the morning, as usual, and that everything seemed normal. He only heard the news earlier this afternoon because his phone had been switched off, the battery'd ran out while he was into town buying drinks for his bar.  
Jane examined his appartment while Lisbon questioned him.

"so Mr Thompson, do you know if your wife had enemies?" Lisbon asked

"no, not really, she was really kind, everybody loved her.. well other women were jealous of her beauty, but that is not a motive for killing someone, is it?"

"you'd be surprised" Jane said then added "erm can I ask you, would you have tea by any chance?"

"In the kitchen, top shelf.. my wife has.. well had her green tea every morning, she used to say she couldn't start the day without her tea. Besides, she said it was keeping her fit" he replied pointing the direction of it

"thank you" Jane made his way there and pursued the inquiry while sticking the kettle on "what about men? You must have felt jealous at times, I guess they were all buzzing around her" he asked poking his head around the door.

Thompson became tense "my wife was faithful to me Mr Jane"

"I never said otherwise although she wasn't wearing her wedding ring, all I stated was that she was a beautiful woman thus she must have had many admirers"

The victim's husband struggled to remain calm "I don't know about any admirer, she worked her ass off at the motel, we spent the rest of the time together, just the two of us and about the ring, she lost it at work, while cleaning"

"how convenient" Jane said, back in the room, all irony around

Mr Thompson got in a rage and suddenly raised on his feet "what are you insinuating?"

Lisbon tried to temper him "Calm down Mr Thompson, he didn't mean anything by it" Lisbon gave Jane a disapproving look before asking her final question " Mr Thompson, did she ever help you at the bar?"

He glanced at Jane, red with anger and ready to punch him in the face "not much, very rarily, she was tired after her shifts and I didn't like to have her under my feet at the bar"

"mmm of course, you didn't like her to be there, did you?" Jane threw at him sipping at his tea

"not really, she was pretty clumsy, would break glasses and forget orders if you must know, besides it's been dead here these last few months, I didn't need her anyway"

Jane observed his face and gestures, something was not quite right.

"thank you that'll be all" Lisbon closed the smiled politely and bid their farewell.

As they were driving back to Sacramento, Lisbon asked Jane what he thought about Thompson but he remained evasive and suddenly asked her to drop him off in town as they drove past stores "need to do some shopping, can you drop me here?"

"what? Now?"

"yes I won't be long, I just have errands to run, will see you back at the office"

"alright"

He hopped off the car and headed for the stores, his figure disappearing in the crowd.

Meanwhile, Cho was in the CBI building, questioning Ethan Jumkins who wouldn't give much information away. He explained he had an affair with the victim and had to see her before work but something'd come up and he couldn't meet her as planned, he then called her but she never replied. He insisted he had an alibi and they had to release him.

Lisbon was back at the office and got to see the end of the interview. She figured this was going nowhere, she couldn't focus on the case anymore. She felt exhausted and craved for a nice movie and some Tequila.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket pulling her out of her thoughts.  
"Jane! Where are you? You said you'd be quick!" she shouted down the phone  
"Hi Lisbon, I'm still into town, had a hard time finding what I was looking for but don't fret, I'll be there very soon"  
"what?"  
"Oh and you can release Jumkins, he didn't kill the victim"  
She didn't have the time to ask what he meant, he'd already hung up.

Dusk kicked in, it'd been a long day and the investigation got to a halt. They couldn't do much more for today so Lisbon sent her men home.

Van Pelt was still sat at her desk though, searching the database for matches. She was striving to pull herself together, work'd saved her from going down. Indeed, she still hadn't recovered from her ex's death and betrayal.  
"Van Pelt it's late, you should go home now" Lisbon ordered  
"well I don't mind, you know.."  
No words were needed, Lisbon understood fair well what she was going through "I know but we need you in shape tomorrow" she said kindly.  
Grace nodded "yes I guess you're right, will gather my stuff and go" she struggled to smile and packed her belongings before driving home.

Lisbon was in her office, putting her coat on, when Jane called her again.

"Jane" she said exasperated

"Lisbon, where are you?"

"really? Where am I? Where do you think I am?"

"well I guess you're still here and for sure grumpy, join me upstairs in five minutes I'm pulling over in the parking lot, will be a sec"

She sighed, ate something off the kitchen and walked up the stairs to the attic, she didn't really want to join him there, she felt so mad at him.

"what is it Jane? I'm not happy" she said entering the room  
"so I see Lisbon but you will be, come in"  
She stepped inside the attic and saw a bottle of tequila and a DVD on the table by the window  
"so I thought you needed to change your mind" he cheered  
"wh- what are you talking about?"  
"you know what I'm talking about" he had finally put two and two together and figured out why she'd felt so low today  
"no I don't and by the way, where were you while we were struggling with the case?" she said trying to change the subject  
"I was looking for all this" he said pointing to the dvd and drink "and and of course I've found who the killer is..."  
"come again?"  
"well it took me ages to find this DVD, it's an old movie and I scoured all Sacramento for it" he said but she cut him off "no I meant who is the killer?"  
"oh that is not important, we can't do anything about it tonight anyway, and you need to put your mind off things. I'll tell you later" he brushed it off with his hand

Her face clearly showed dissatisfaction but she was too tired to protest "and the tequila and the DVD are for..?"  
Jane swallowed hard and turned all serious "we've known each other for years now and I've made out why at this time of the year you look sad and so I want to be there for you that's all", he dove his hands in his pockets and looked uncomfortable a little, bouncing from one foot to another, being open with her was not easy for him "I haven't been there for you lately and I know you've been worried about me and it was not right of me to leave you without news for six months, I know that now so I want to make it up to you somehow" he struggled to look her in the eye, his voice was betraying him.

She looked sideways trembling ever so slightly and cleared her throat "you've been searching through my past?"  
"nope I just figured it out"  
"alright well I'm fine" she nodded slowly  
He stood there staring at her, she was on the defensive so much  
"I'm fine" she insisted  
"Tequila?" he suggested seeing she was not ready to talk about it  
She nodded again, her face looking tense while he poured her a glass before filling his  
"so what is the movie?" she asked  
He smiled "you'll see, it's a surprise, come on sit down"  
She sat down feeling a tad nervous to say the least then noticed the laptop on the table,"Jane whose is this?"  
"erm well I borrowed it from downstairs"  
She rolled her eyes "oh Jane! you are impossible"  
"oh come on it's just a loan, I'll put it back, they won't even see I took it"  
She moaned as she downed her tequila, she never understood how he could be so endearing yet so irritating at the same time.  
Jane opened the dvd box "what woman doesn't like a nice slushy movie" he teased  
"really?" she snorted  
"oh come on Lisbon, I'm sure you love snuggling in your sofa to watch a romantic movie with a glass of Tequila, identifying with the lady deeply and unconditionally loved by her overly pure knight in shining armour" he teased again  
She rolled her eyes at him and relaxed against the wall, alcohol soothing her tense muscles. As the movie started, she laughed out loud "Pretty woman? really?"  
He smirked "the one and only"  
"isn't it a bit odd?"  
"ah I knew you'd say this but you see there is a reason for it, other than that you love it of course, let's watch it" he replied slumping on the bed next to her.

His scent was teasing her nostrils, he'd been wearing the same fragrance for years and over time, she'd got familiar with it, it deeply brought her mind and body to peace. She felt safe when he was close to her and right now she found it so hard to remain focused on the movie, her heart was beating so fast she feared he would hear it. Her eyes were staring at the screen but her mind was all over the place. He was right, she'd been feeling down but not just because of the anniversary of her mother's death. She'd been feeling sick since Lorelei told her they had slept together. It'd been hard enough when she hadn't heard from him for six long months and that fling with Lorelei had been the final blow for her. She'd been feeling closer to him with time and she was now scared Lorelei would get to him and turn him away from her.

Jane suddenly turned to her "so any clue?" he poked her gently with his glass.  
She jolted awake "not really"  
"oh come on Lisbon"  
"well give me a clue then"  
"the clue is so big and right before your eyes Lisbon" he pointed to the screen.  
"a hooker?"  
"that's a start" he said titling his head.  
"the victim was a hooker?"  
"yes we have a winner!" he joked.  
"really?"  
"yes she was, she was a cleaning lady at the motel and enjoyed extra work while she was at it.. well enjoyed is big a word, I'd say she felt or was forced to do this extra and well paid job"  
"how did you find out?" she asked surprised at how good he is, once again.  
"well many little things really"  
"but who's the killer?"  
"your guess?"  
She pondered on it for a minute "the motel's owner of course, because he probably saw her little game and accepted to keep quiet if she gave him a share of the money she earned illegally. And she didn't want to so it got out of hand and he killed her and that's why he's missing now!" her eyes were shining of pride at her breakthrough  
"yes that's good Lisbon you're getting closer but no I don't think it's him"  
"why? it makes perfect sense"  
"it does make sense but I believe her husband killed her"  
"her husband?"  
"yes, after you left the bar this morning, I went to the toilets and caught two men whispering about a cleaning lady extending her work to you know.. special treatments at the motel nearby and one of them told his little friend to have a word with the barman-who was then away- if he was interested. It turned out the barman was her husband, did you see how unhealthy their flat was? The kitchen's walls were covered with black mold, they didn't have much money, his business didn't go well, they had to find a way of making ends meat, easy as the motel is just accross the street. Of course she never lost her ring, she removed it intentionally. The owner knew something dodgy was happening, he was ok with it as long as he got his share, he's missing now because he'd go down for fraud. Anyway, everything went fine until her husband had a breakthrough"  
"what do you mean? what breakthrough?"  
"his wife had fallen in love with Jumkins, a regular client, the husband somehow found out they were going to meet secretly, went to the motel to kill her. Well it was easy as he'd put a large dose of drugs in her green tea bottle before she left the house. He found her in a coma, was about to kill her, probably stab her but had to resort to plan B"

"what do you mean?"

"well his idea was for the police to frame Jumkins of course, he's a drug dealer, he was meant to meet Emma so he would have been the prime suspect but Thomson freaked out as he saw Jumkins tried to call Emma many times, he understood he would not come for whatever reason and thus had to find a plan B, hence the improvised fake suicide"  
"that makes sense indeed"  
"we'll finish this tomorrow, I have an idea of how to trap him" he smiled "now we can enjoy this movie, you like Richard Gere?"  
"mmm yes he's not bad" which made him smile faintly

They went on with the movie when half way through it, Jane turned to her, he'd gathered his strength to ask her this one question "by the way Lisbon, I would like to ask you something"  
She turned her head to face him "what is it?"  
"you know.. it's about Red John, my list" he continued going all serious.  
"what about it?"  
"I wanted to ask you if erm.. if you think Mashburn could.." his voice broke a little.  
"be Red John?" she finished his sentence.  
"yes"  
He caught her off guard "I don't think so and how would I know?" she furrowed her brows.  
His voice was a whisper "I know you slept with him so I thought.."  
It was enough for her to burst out, alcohol helping "what?"  
He'd definitely crossed the line and that's what he'd feared but he had to know "well it's ok I won't tell anyone, it's just.."  
His words sparked her anger even more "I can't believe it! You pretend to care for me while your only purpose is to get information out of me? Was alcohol part of the plan to make me talk?" she spat out.  
"no no no Lisbon it's not like that at all, It was not planned at all" he tried to calm her down but once again he'd pushed the right buttons to make her mad.  
Jane jumped out of the bed to stop her as she barged off the bed. "Lisbon listen I didn't mean to upset you I'm sorry"  
"let me go" her tone was blunt.  
"no listen to me"  
"Jane please I'm tired, I'm upset, let me go" she was on the verge of a break down and Jane wouldn't let her walk out, blocking the door.  
"Lisbon let me explain"  
"I don't want your explanation, I'm so over Red John, I just want to go home" her tone was so cold and calm, she tried to push him aside but he wouldn't budge.  
"Jane I won't repeat myself, step aside now!" All the anger she felt against him was not so much about him not letting her go but rather about the hurt he'd been causing her these past months.

"Lisbon please listen to me and then you can go" he gently put his hands on her upper arms but she wouldn't listen to him and instead burst out hitting him accross the chest "for godsake let me go!"

"it's ok you have to let it out" he said staggering under her blow. She was in shock, she didn't mean to lose it and certainly not hit him.

"breathe now, deeply" he whispered with a soothing voice in an attempt to bring her mind and body back to peace and grasped her wrists to prevent her from hitting him more.  
"you have changed Jane, all you care about is Red John, you're a manipulative selfish son of a bitch" she said regaining her composure.  
He looked into her eyes "lisbon, you know I care for you, here in your heart" and pointed to it "you know I'd never want to hurt you"  
"I don't trust you anymore" she shook her head in disgust.

He gazed into her eyes "of course you do, it's still me remember?" and raised her chin to make her look at him.

She examined his face, he looked so perfect, his gaze reminded her of the first time she'd seen him when he'd turned up at the CBI to have a look at the RJ's files. He'd looked so hurt and frail she'd felt compelled to help him. She remembered how her eyes mirrored his broken soul, just like now.  
Later he started working for her and she had refused herself to ever consider him as a potential lover especially since he'd been so good at irritating her all the time, his arrogance'd sent her -and everybody else for that matter- to the roof a lot of the time and still did.

His heart beating so fast under her hand pulled her out of her thoughts. She realised he was still holding her hands tightly against his muscled chest, which caused her to shiver. The anger she'd felt a minute ago suddenly left room for affection, she just longed to stroke his chest, taste his lips, feel his body against hers.

"I'm not feeling well" she whined  
"you need to lie down, you are having a breakdown" he said helping her back to the bed hiding his own feelings.

She lay down while he sat on the floor, his legs bent against his chest. He felt so hurt he wanted to scream, he wanted to hold her and comfort her so badly. She was the first woman he'd loved since he lost his wife and it scared the hell out of him. Now he knew for sure she had slept with Mashburn and it made him sick to his stomach. Asking her if Mashburn could be Red John was a backwards way of asking if they had slept together. He knew it was a one night stand but still, he felt decieved, he wondered if she enjoyed it. He did sleep with Lorelei but that was different, it was a ruse to get closer to red John, he couldn't care less about her. He loved Lisbon with his soul but he couldn't tell her because it would put her life in danger. He couldn't take that risk, he had to find Red John first and kill him before he could finally move on with his life.

Lisbon's voice shook him out of his thoughts, she laughed out loud, a belly laughter that lasted forever, leaving Jane puzzled by the bedside.  
"what's so funny?"  
Alcohol made her talk none sense "you! you are just impossible, I curse the day I met you!"  
"where does that come from?" he asked, concealing his hurt

**silence**

She rolled on the bed to face the wall and closed her eyes then paused a little before speaking again  
"I was playing in my room when the police rang the bell" she said finally, refering to her mum's death  
Jane turned around, his eyes were shining in the dark, the moon reflecting in them.  
"I heard it all, I could feel something was wrong then I understood" she pursued  
"I'm sorry" he said softly reaching to her and patting her back.  
"my dad was so sad he hit us everytime we mentioned our mum, especially my brothers"  
"I'm really sorry" he repeated fighting the tears coming up.  
She rolled on her back again to look at him "you don't understand... this thing with Red John is going to kill you and I.. I can't..I couldn't.."  
He shushed her "I'll be fine I promise and so will you" his voice was just a whisper.  
She felt she could now see right through him, the look on his face was telling her how much he cared for her, she was so fond of his eyes. "Lorelei" she started  
"she's nothing to me" he interrupted "you have to believe me, I'm just using her to get to Red John"  
she swallowed hard "she's playing you"  
"I know that" he whispered "and I'm playing her.."  
"she's beautiful and twisted, she certainly knows how to"  
"you're wrong I don't feel a thing for her and she won't get to me, I'm here" he cut her off again.

**silence**

"you need to sleep now" he murmured.  
She moved to the side of the bed, leaving room for him to lie down next to her if he wanted to and closed her eyes.  
He stared at her for the longest time, she looked so beautiful he couldn't take his eyes off her. He remembered the first time he realised he was in love with her, not so long ago. Their relationship had been quite special, she was her boss for starters which excluded any ambiguity but working with her day in day out made them grow closer and eventually fond of each other. He fought these feelings so hard, he knew they were uncalled for but they came back stronger and stronger every time he tried to bury them inside.

She was now drifting off, he paused for a long while before lying next to her and unintentionally woke her up as he shifted his weight on the mattress. She turned to him mumbling something in her sleep, while he was still looking at her, their faces a few inches apart. Then she slowly opened her eyes only to see his staring back at her in the dark.  
Her green eyes made him feel weak at the knees. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you up" he whispered. Feeling his breath on her face sent a violent shiver down her spine, she wanted him so much and he was now so close.

They gazed into each other's eyes remaining silent for what felt like eternity, neither of them moving an inch but instead savouring every second of being close to each other.

Jane finally reached for her hand, slipping it into hers and gently stroking it with his thumb, to which Lisbon responded by squeezing it soflty.  
She closed her eyes, enjoying feeling that close to him while he stared at the ceiling, hurting and wondering how long he'd have to withhold his love for her...


End file.
